Procopius / History of the Wars

Procopius lived in the sixth century, in Eastern Rome. He was a historian and writer, whose writings are the primary source of information about the ruling of the Roman emperor Justinian. He wrote eight books about the wars fought by, a book on Justinian's public works, and a book called Secret History, which claims to be about scandals that could not be part of the history books. 

The book History of the Wars gives an overview of the Persian Wars of emperors Justinus and Justinian, the Vandalic War, the Gothic War and a sketch of events to 554. It describes the military history, the peoples and places, and special events. 

In the volumes V and VI, Procopius deals with Belisarios in Italy and the background to that conflict. In the books you will find a good  introduction to the politics in the Ostrogothic kingdom from the time of Theodoric's conquest, and after that it continues where the previous volume ended. In these two volumes, you will read about the fall of Sicily to Belisarios' troops and the landing of the army in Italy. Then, the occupations of Italy are described one by one.